Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg today announced that the City
of New York, as part its efforts to reduce traffic congestion, decrease the
City's carbon footprint, encourage the use of public transportation, and reduce
the demand for curbside parking in connection with City business, is
implementing a comprehensive program to reduce the number and misuse of
government parking placards. First, every City agency will reduce its number of
parking placards by at least 20 percent. Second, the issuance of parking
placards will be centralized and only the Police Department (NYPD) and the Department of Transportation (DOT
) will have the authority to issue them.
Third, the NYPD will create a new enforcement unit to ensure compliance and
agencies will develop enforcement procedures to prevent the abuse of placards. A
multi-agency working group will implement and coordinate the various measures
being taken and take additional actions, including a review of existing agency
parking-space allocations and on-street parking regulations.

"Parking placards are a necessary tool for
conducting City business, but we have no tolerance for their abuse, which
contributes to congestion," said Mayor Bloomberg. "We will give out placards
only to those who need to use them to further the public interest. City workers
have often led by example, and our efforts to reduce traffic congestion will be
no different."

"In addition to the reduction in official
placards, vehicles displaying look-alike or counterfeit placards will be issued
summonses and their owners will be subject to further prosecution," said Police
Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly.

"A reduction in placards isn't just about
opening up curbside parking spaces," said Transportation Commissioner Janette
Sadik-Khan. "It also speaks to the City's efforts to be smarter about the
allocation of our transportation resources, and to a transportation policy that
aims for a greener, greater and less congested New York."

The multi-agency working group on placard
use has asked each City agency to create an inventory of all parking placards
for use as a benchmark for the 20 percent reduction. On March 1st the reduced
number of permits will be issued by either the NYPD or DOT, and from that date
forward only those two agencies will issue placards. The NYPD will issue
placards for its use and for law enforcement agencies it currently issues
permits to and the DOT will issue all other placards for every other City
agency. The working group will develop a process for agencies to demonstrate a
need for additional placards, which will be reviewed on an agency-by-agency
basis. In connection with the reduction in placards issued, agencies will
implement measures to prevent parking-placard misuse by agency personnel.

The working group will also conduct a review
of existing parking-space allocations and on-street parking regulations
throughout the City. The group will work with agencies to develop
strategies to ensure compliance with parking and placard regulations, including
time limits in no parking, truck loading, and metered zones, to increase the use
of technology such as in-vehicle smart placards and create greater reliance on
public transportation. The group will also develop reporting metrics to assess
the effectiveness of agency compliance and enforcement. The group, chaired by
Deputy Mayor for Operations Edward Skyler, consists of representatives from the
NYPD, DOT, Finance Department and the Mayor's Office of
Operations.